Archive for August, 2007

It’s week 1 of college football, and the season kicks off with a Thursday night line-up highlighted by an (2) LSU at Mississippi St SEC matchup. Of note, (10) Louisville, (16) Rutgers, and (24) Boise St. also play Thursday, but against opponents not even worth naming on this site, so lets focus on LSU.

The Tigers are facing huge expectations this season, with their highest pre-season ranking in decades, but a vicious SEC schedule stands between them and a BCS championship game birth. Much of that pressure will fall on the shoulders of senior QB Matt Flynn, who threw for all of 133 yards last season, after being a career backup. However, much of that pressure may be relieved by LSU’s defense, which is being touted as maybe the best in the country.

On the other side of the ball, the MSU Bulldogs have failed to put together a winning season since 2000, and have lost seven straight to LSU. In last seasons matchup, the Tigers took a 35-3 halftime lead before winning 48-17. The Bulldogs expectations, as with their season ticket sales, are up this year, but don’t expect an upset of national-championship-minded LSU in week 1.

In non-conference matchups, the best game on the week 1 schedule has got to be (15)Tennessee at (12)Cal. Last year the Vol’s thumped the Bears, but don’t necessarily believe they’ll do it again. This will be a close game, and Cal will find a way to pull out the victory.

Other notable games on Saturday include Washington St. at (7) Wisconsin, Oklahoma St. at (13) Georgia, and Kansas St. at (18)Auburn. Anticipate one of these ranked teams being upset at home in week 1.

It just wouldn’t be right to end the week 1 preview without mentioning the fierce battle that the top-ranked team is heading into Saturday. (1)USC hosts Idaho in its season opener, and don’t sleep on Idaho. Wait, nevermind, I take that back, do sleep on Idaho. Here’s a quick pre-cap of the game. USC scores ad TD within the first minute, be it kickoff return or 80-yard pass. Idaho fumbles on the ensuing drive, USC capitalizes with an under 25-yard TD drive. Repeat for 60 minutes. The biggest questions in my mind are A) will USC be forced to punt even once in this game? And B) Will Idaho find a way to make it on the scoreboard. The answers are NO and NO, unless USC fumbles in their own endzone.

And that wraps up the college football week 1 preview. It’s time to throw the steaks on the grill, tap the keg, and enjoy the season to come.

Instead of actually writing something today, I’m showing you a mildly funny NFL Network commercial with the greatest quote of all time. “Bears fans are crazy about Rex Grossman. Crazy!” This is basically a cop-out so I can get back to my homework, but if you don’t enjoy it you should find a new hobby. Of course, if you’re reading this then you should probably find a new hobby, so it looks like a lose-lose situation for ya.

For college football fans, the end of August is a great time of year. All the pre-season polls are out, people are checking where their team is ranked, and arguing that they should be ranked higher. Week 1 sure-shot blowouts are just around the corner, propelling most fans’ teams to an impressive 1-0 (i.e. USC vs. Idaho).

But for Michigan fans, the preseason polls don’t come out until November 12, the Monday after their showdown with Big Ten challenger Wisconsin. Week 1 of a two week season begins November 17, when the Wolverines host rival Ohio State. Week two comes seven and a half weeks later, on Janurary 7, in the BCS National Champoinship game.

If Michigan goes 0-2 again this season, as they have the last three (sub BCS Championship game for Rose Bowl, Alamo Bowl, Rose Bowl) The legacies of three of the best players to put on a Michigan uniform in the last decade will forever be tarnished. Chad Henne, the quarterback who has started all 37 games of his career at Michigan (and also has the coolest last name of any Wolverine since Tim Biakabutuka), Mike Hart, the Heisman candidate halfback who has started as a freshman but has missed time with injuries, and Jake Long, the could-have-been top 5 pick in the ’07 NFL draft as an offensive lineman, will be remembered as the trio who couldn’t get it done. The seniors have never beaten the Buckeyes, or won a bowl game.

A one-loss season should be enough to get Michigan into the Championship game, granted that loss is not to Ohio State. The only way that would not be the case is if both teams more likely to go undefeated than Michigan, USC and West Virginia, do, leaving 11-1 Michigan and on the outside looking in. But, my optimism as a Michigan fan tells me that either A) That wont happen, or B) Michigan will run the table, and end up playing for the title.

Look for a big glass football in Ann Arbor after this season, or some major changes to be made after the bowl season in Janurary.

I’m back from vacation, and I’m just as dissapointed to see that only one person voted on their favorite movie-athlete of all time (and no Brandon, the cool runnings guys aren’t even on the list, try again) as I am excited to see the MLB standings.

In the AL, the seemingly always-awful M’s are at the top of the Wild Card race, only percentage points ahead of the were-counted-out-in-June Yankees. Meanwhile, the “doninators” of the AL central, Detroit and Cleveland (in that order, thank you) are a combined 18-32 since July 20, and battling it out head-to-head in a two game series as I type. After the Tigers won yesterday, they pulled a game ahead of the tribe.

In the National League, Cubs fans have something to talk about this late in the year for the first time since the year that one guy pulled in a so-called catchable foul ball that spaked a Cubbie collapse in the would-have-been series clinching game of the 2003 NLCS (you know who you are, Steve). We all know how that story ends, but Cubs fans believe this is their year for redemption, and they might be right.

Elsewhere in the NL, the Padres, Phillies, Braves, Rockies, and Dodgers have Wild Card hopes, as Milwaukee, Arizona and the Mets hold under-three game leads in their respective divisions.

So, with all that said, the only conclusion I can draw is that this late in the season, it’s still too early to draw conclusions. There are legitimitely 16 teams fighting for 8 playoff spots. Nobody in baseball is safe right now (except maybe the Red Sox), which should make for one of the most exciting MLB finishes in recent memory.

As I sit here watching Dawson’s Creek, I can’t help but man-fantasize about James Van Der Beek’s cannon in Varsity Blues, which instantly begs two questions. Am I gay? And, who is the all-time greatest fictional athlete?

My new-found lust for the show’s Joey (Katie Holmes, not a dude!) quickly answers my first question, and puts to rest any fleeting insecurities about my sexuallity. So now I’m stuck wondering who’s better, Rudy, or Rocky? Boobie Miles, or Jesus Shuttlesworth?

To answer this question, I’m going to need the help of my readers (God permitting I actually have some). Tell me who you think the greatest movie athlete of all time is, or just who your personal favorite is.

The rules are simple, it has to be a movie charactor, not a real life person, unless the movie is based on a real life person (i.e. Rudy). So don’t tell me Michael Jordan from Space Jam is the best movie athlete, or the two kids from Hoop Dreams. I’m holding out for 25 responces, then I’ll watch some movies and make my final decision.

Down by 15 with under four minutes to go, Illinois outscores Arizona 20-5 down the stretch, and puts ’em away in overtime, in what was barely the best game of the day, after Louisville beat the cinderella story of the tournament West Virginia in overtime earlier to advance to the final four. Enjoy.

Time to brush the dust off the keyboard and post something again. And what better time than the day after one of the greatest records in sports is broken?

Last night Barry Bonds finally broke Hank Aaron’s all-time home run record of 755 with his 756th career home run, hopefully putting an end to all the Barry Bonds talk. Well, I’m going to be the first to stop talking about Bonds. All I’m going to say is this: A-Rod will own the record within a decade, and Bonds will be forgotten.

That’s it. That is the last time I will mention Barry Bonds’ name. Okay, I lied, This is. Bonds.